Future plans for the 717 at the new SWA?

[AnimalTale]

Well then can you PLEASE get him an interview so he can have that staple he so desperately wanted. Personally, I come to work to get *away* from the pointless bitching and moaning.

That is actually, pretty funny! lol.

CYA

 

[Dude]

I don't care what they do with those things as long as they make money and the pilots make good money flying them. Hopefully they'll be the same rate as the 737.

An airplane is an airplane.......the money and schedule is the only thing that matters.

 

[carl p]

I don't care what they do with those things as long as they make money and the pilots make good money flying them. Hopefully they'll be the same rate as the 737.

An airplane is an airplane.......the money and schedule is the only thing that matters.

Amen! Dropping some of them out west would sure be nice... As long as they make money for the mother ship all is good.

 

[humveedriver]

I suspect there is some long range planning that hasn't been diclosed yet. As far as ATL gates are concerned, I'm sure the airport planners are looking at maximizing revenue to pay for and sustain the new 1.4 BILLION dollar international terminal being built. That will change the footprint of E concourse for sure. I could easily see a combined SWA/AT operation out of E, and give C back to Delta and have all the cat and dog airlines park at D. Probably some variation of this anyway. I don't see SWA/AT being hemmed in to half of C and D. The future of the 717 is anyone's guess. The combined airline may keep it flying longer a lil longer if it makes financial sense (mx contracts and lease agreements not stage length), otherwise 700/800 appears to be the future. Just my thoughts but I see SWA getting some serious market share in east coast cities which is centric to AT's route structure.

 

[FIREMAN]

The new international terminal is not replacing E. It is more for Atlanta international paxs to check in and check bags without having to got thought the old terminal. It will have gates but not enough to replace E.

 

[luv2fly]

I'd imagine ATL will retro fit or whatever they need to get the gates to fit 737s. They would be losing a large amount of money in fees by not allowing the heavier 737 into those gates.

The 717 is cheaper to fly on a per departure basis than a 737, the cost crossover point is around 1100 miles. So I would imagine you will see, after some fence, the 717s moved strategically around our system to take advantage of the lower cost per departure and the seat count.

In regards to SLI, I don't think any one thing: seat, relative sen, DOH, career expectations, career earning, final career seniority...etc. will be the only thing used. It will be a mix of all of these. Which seat you are in the day the deal is done will probably be the same seat you are currently sitting in today, but after the fence agreements expire, the "global" seniority list takes over and you sit in the seat at which your seniority can hold. imo

I also believe a "windfall" in regards to monthly pay, qol, schedule, career earnings, retirements, benefits, flexibility... goes along way to convincing an arbitrator that which side of the aircraft you sit on is irrelevant. Except to massage some peoples egos.

 

[Clyde Frog]

I was on the 717 for about 7 years and the 737 for about 2 years and I can tell you the 73 is WAY more reliable and WAY more automated.

 

[F9 Driver]

Dont worry, just because we screwed the pooch, doesnt mean the deal between Air Tran and SWA will be bad.

We, plain and simple, screwed up (water under the bridge). But since you bring it up: Look what we are contending with now, oh wait, Ill say it before you do, "at least we have jobs". Thats all it is, its a "job", it could have been a career. Nice job.

CYA

Stick to taking pretty pictures. You have no idea what you're talking about (like the vast majority of FI posters). There was no deal to screw up.

 

[Frequency]

I was on the 717 for about 7 years and the 737 for about 2 years and I can tell you the 73 is WAY more reliable and WAY more automated.

Really, you think so? I have flown both and disagree with you. Was that sarcasm? I didnt even have to tune my own ILS's when I was on the B717, now thats what I call automation!!

 

[AnimalTale]

Stick to taking pretty pictures. You have no idea what you're talking about (like the vast majority of FI posters). There was no deal to screw up.

You are funny.

Republic is a very lucrative company, stable and a place we can hang our hats. Congratulations. We sure showed SWA how tough we are. lol


CYA

 

[asaflyer]

I don't care what they do with those things as long as they make money and the pilots make good money flying them. Hopefully they'll be the same rate as the 737.

An airplane is an airplane.......the money and schedule is the only thing that matters.

What he said.

I, however, wouldn't expect the 71's to be scattered throughout the system as that would provide for a much higher training cost. Maybe not. Seems that SWA has always followed the KISS method and that has served them well in the past. Staying on the 71 in ATL would be my wish as I am much to lazy to go back to training until upgrade.

 

[Citrus531]

I've heard a few folks talking about this recently. Can someone in the know at AirTran give me a positive ID on whether this is a real limitation of the ATL gates or not? Would suck if true.

I work in the AirTran Command Center in Atlanta and I can confirm there are limitations on the gates. Out of 22 gates on C concourse, C1, C21, C22, C14 and C2 are the only 737 gates. Many of the C gates used to have "alpha gates"..i.e. C18, C18a, C17, C17a, etc, etc(Old Eastern widebody gates(L1011).

On D concourse we have roughly 10-12 gates. We don't control these gates, TBI airport management(the contracted out company who does ramp control on ramps 3,4 and 5 handle these and confirm assignments of flights at the beginning of each day). D2, D4, D6, D1 or D1a(either 2 717's or 1 737 which blocks one of the gates, D5, D7(which we borrow from Republic/Frontier, D9(we share with Spirit), D11(which we share with Air Canada, and D11a all can hold 737's.

We get 3-4 gates on E concourse for the international arrivals which are later repositioned to D-concourse usually for another turn(90 mins normally to clear customs, get Mx on board and get the airplane moved...can be a big pain the a** with late inbounds).

 

[inline]

All pilots will be required to purchace a DC9 type rating.

 

[obadie]

Had one of our chiefs in our jumpseat. He had just returned from Dallas. He said we are planning on keeping the 717s and are looking at smaller markets to serve. We are also looking at seasonal flying as in Jackson Hole, Wy, etc. We have three 700s that we purchased from Virgin Blue that are ETOPS and we are keeping them ETOPS. He thought we might be keeping them to do proving runs. Hawaii is just around the corner.

 

[Lonestar]

The 717 is cheaper to fly on a per departure basis than a 737, the cost crossover point is around 1100 miles. So I would imagine you will see, after some fence, the 717s moved strategically around our system to take advantage of the lower cost per departure and the seat count.

In regards to SLI, I don't think any one thing: seat, relative sen, DOH, career expectations, career earning, final career seniority...etc. will be the only thing used. It will be a mix of all of these. Which seat you are in the day the deal is done will probably be the same seat you are currently sitting in today, but after the fence agreements expire, the "global" seniority list takes over and you sit in the seat at which your seniority can hold. imo

I also believe a "windfall" in regards to monthly pay, qol, schedule, career earnings, retirements, benefits, flexibility... goes along way to convincing an arbitrator that which side of the aircraft you sit on is irrelevant. Except to massage some peoples egos.

I think you are on to something here. My thoughts exactly.